ONTREAL - The Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec has put the brakes on Education Minister Line Beauchamp’s hurried attempt to bring the two sides together as early as Friday to discuss the dispute over tuition increases.
FEUQ president Martine Desjardins said that after a 10-week strike, another couple of days won’t make a difference.
She also said students were upset that Beauchamp appeared to try to create a rift in the student movement by scheduling talks on the eve of an important meeting of one of the biggest student associations, CLASSE (Coalition large de l'association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante).
CLASSE has been criticized by Beauchamp and Premier Jean Charest for not clearly condemning recent acts of vandalism and violence attributed to students. CLASSE has said that is not in its mandate, but has agreed to propose altering that mandate this weekend when it meets with its members, who would ultimately decide how they want to handle the situation.
“Everyone knows Saturday is CLASSE’s convention, and it’s insulting that the minister has not taken that reality into account,” Desjardins said.
She said FEUQ has already told the education minister’s office that it will discuss university governance only if CLASSE is included in the talks. The Fédération étudiante collègiale du Québec (FECQ) is the other group Beauchamp has included in talks, because it has denounced all violence.
“This is just another way to divide the movement,” Desjardins said. “The government needs to address the problem with no conditions, no semantics.”
She said her organization is scrambling to find a way to encourage both CLASSE and Beauchamp to take the necessary steps to allow negotiations to take place.
But for now, she said, if CLASSE is not included, FEUQ won’t be there either.
Earlier Thursday, Beauchamp said in Quebec City that her staff was in contact with FEUQ, which represents striking university students, and FECQ, grouping CEGEP students boycotting classes, about opening discussions, “starting Friday, if possible.”
Beauchamp, who had issued an ultimatum Wednesday to student associations, calling on them to denounce violence, noted in the National Assembly that FEUQ and the FECQ have both condemned all forms of violence.
And the provincial government joins them in deploring “excessive brutality.”
The students referred to police action in arresting students and teachers and an incident in which a Montreal student is reported to have lost an eye in a confrontation with police.
Beauchamp said she would like to discuss with the two federations their proposals to save $300 million a year in university administrative costs through better management.
The minister was silent on the role of CLASSE (the Coalition large de l'association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante), the most politically motivated association of striking students. CLASSE is to discuss at a convention in Montreal on Saturday the government’s demand that it denounce violent acts.
Leaders of FEUQ and FECQ have said they will not sit down with the government if CLASSE, representing about 70,000 of the 175,000 striking students, is excluded.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesperson of CLASSE, was quick to respond by Twitter. Alluding to violent campus confrontations across the province Thursday, he tweeted, “The situation is deteriorating. The minister should take this into account and stop denying the reality,” and called for “a real dialogue now.”
© Postmedia News, 2012